


Bug Catching

by Theonewhosawitall



Series: Field Trip [3]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Feild trip, Friendship, Ladybugs, Playing, bug catching, hillsides, rolling down hills
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-13
Updated: 2018-08-13
Packaged: 2019-06-26 15:22:21
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,890
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15665919
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Theonewhosawitall/pseuds/Theonewhosawitall
Summary: The class go for a field trip out on the hillsides in the country. On the ride out Alix & Kim enter into a bet with Marinette and Alya. Who can capture the most ladybugs?





	Bug Catching

**Author's Note:**

> I haven't edited any of this yet, so don't be too judgmental

HKim waited less than twenty seconds after the teacher had passed by to unbuckle his seat belt, kneel up on his chair, and turn to talk to Alix and Nathaneal behind him. Alix had wanted a window seat, but Kim had wanted one too, and Max wanted to sit with Kim, so Alix was by the window behind them. Nathaneal was beside her so he could lean over the asile to talk to Rose and Juleka. Kim was close enough to hear their conversation about Marinette and Adrien, whom Alya had forced to sit side by side in front of her and Nino in the front of the van.

"Do you think they'll come together on their own?" Rose asked, watching Marinette giggling manically behind her bag.

Kim scoffed immediately at that. "God no. Someone's gonna have to step up and lock them in a cage!"

Max was the only one who understood, mostly at least, what Kim was getting at. The others just gave him a baffled look.

Kim looked away sheepishly. "Long story."

"There’s a lot of them floating about at the moment," Rose said.

As they were talking they started about the gift that Juleka had brought Rose. A bottle of perfume that Rose was keen to show off, even as it made Juleka blush a little at how soppy Rose could be. Their conversation came to an abrupt end as Alya leaned back, sniffing the air.

"Hmm what’s that smell? It's amazing!"

Rose raised her hand, making her bangles clatter a little, "It's me. Rose water based body spray, Jules gave it to me," Rose beamed.

"Wow Juleka you've got a great nose!" Alya grinned.

Juleka rested her head against the manic pixie she called her girlfriend. "I know my roses."

Kim sniffed again, "I wonder if Ladybug would be attracted to that."

"Why do you wanna attract Ladybug Kim?" Alix teased.

Kim swiped at her playfully but she was far enough away to dodge it with ease. "Not me, my man Nath here. He's gone all bug eyed for the bug girl, right Nath?"

Nathaneal blushed a little and muttered, "Shut up Kim."

Kim's eyes were shining as he joked, and Alix bit back a laugh so Nathaneal wouldn't have to blush any harder. About Ladybug anyway.

"Leave him alone Kim, you know he's only got eyes for Marc," Alix said.

Nathaneal blushed beatroot and hid behind his fringe, "I do not love Marc!"

In their corner of the van they knew it was a joke, and they were giggling about it in good fun. The harsh shrill laugh from behind them was less fun, and more condescending. 

"Marc? The hoodie boy that writes comics? If that's the kind of loser you love, its no wonder youre alone!" Chloé sneered.

Kim looked up, frowing at Chloé. Instead of frowning like Kim and Max were or sinking into her chair like Nathaneal did, Alix unbuckled her seatbelt, ready to throw hands. Nathaneal had to grab her and shove her back into her chair. That didn't stop Alix though. Just because she couldnt have a physical fight didnt mean she wasnt going to defend her friends.

"I'd never be caught dead with a loser like that," Chloé sniggered. 

"Don't worry Chloé, no one would be caught dead with /you either," Alix snarled. 

Chloé gasped, affronted. "How dare-"

"THERES A LADYBUG!"

"WHERE?!"

Any argument was immediately extinguished by Nino's over excited cry. Every one of the students tried to fly to the window and try to see their hero outside of Paris. Even Marinette, surprised and confused, tried to see what Nino thought he could see.

"NINO!" Alya yelled.

Her voice was tangled with anger and humour as she realised that the ladybug Nino was talking about was the literal bug crawling around his arm. It flew from Nino's arm when he jumped out of his skin at Alya's cry. It flew away, one chair forward, and landed in Adrian's hair. He felt it, and lifted it onto his finger.  
Marinette's cheeks flushed pink as she watched Adrien's eyes soften affectionately smiling at the bug. Her chest tightened. She was so focused on his affectionate look that she didnt notice it flutter away and land on her nose.  
Tikki and Plagg peered up from the bags tucked under the chairs and giggled at their holders surprised faces. Especially when Marinette turned shockingly scarlet because Adrian gently brushed the bug off of her nose and let it go through the window. 

"Dont worry guys, its gone," he called.

"Oh Adrian you're so brave to save us all from that ugly insect!" Chloé cooed.

Mildly offended, Marinette snapped, "Yeah well its not exactly hard to catch a ladybug is it?" 

"Hawkmoth seems to be having a hard time," Adrien smirked. 

"Hawkmoth is pathetic, he'll never catch Ladybug!" Alya declared.

"Or Chat Noir," Nino added.

Again Chloé huffed, "Who cares about Chat Noir? Ladybug's the real hero, Chat is just going along for the ride!"

Adrien hung his head a little, but Marinette scowled. She lurched forward, ready to fight, but the seatbelt pulled her back to her seat. Adrien looked at her in surprise. Instead, she turned in her seat to glare down the asile. 

"Despite the fact hes a hero in his own right - brave and smart and powerful on his own, Chat Noir is a loyal and dedicated friend to Ladybug Chloé," Marinette spat.

"The reason you dont understand the importance of that is because you don't have one," Alix piped in.

"If it wasnt for Chat Noir being there for Ladybug whenever she needed him she would either have lost her miraculous or maybe even died by now. Chat Noir is important. Dont forget that!"

A hint of threat in Marinette's tone made Adrien's heart miss a beat, Alya smirk, Nino snigger, Tikki sigh, and Chloé huff. 

"What. Ever!" She spat.

When Marinette turned back to face the front she looked like a sulky toddler. Adrien lowered his voice to a slightly hopeful whisper. "You like Chat Noir?" 

Marinette looked up to see his pure green eyes wide and full of awe staring down at her in a way that she had never seen from him before, and yet somehow looked vaguely familiar. Marinette gulped and nodded shyly.

"He's my hero," she said.

She blushed a little as his smile grew, but he didnt say anything. Marinette heard Kims conversation continue behind her, and latched onto it to avoid any embarrassment infront of Adrien.

"Well I still think I could catch more ladybugs than you," Kim declared. 

"I get along with Ladybugs very well. I could catch more than you," Marinette smirked. 

Kim's eyes shone. "Wanna bet?"

Even if Marinette had been able to resist she didnt need to. The moment Alya heard the word "bet" she was ready to prove that she could be just as good as anyone else. Within seconds Alya and Marinette had teamed up and agreed to enter battle with Kim and Alix to catch as many ladybugs as possible. Max was the referee.  
Alix, Kim and Max were so keen to get going on their competition that as soon as the van stopped on the hillside and the doors opened into the field, all three of them went dashing out. Kim had tried to prove he was able to eat a whole tube of pringles at once, and Max had finished the crisps he couldn't eat, so now they were using that tube to catch the ladybugs with. 

"LOOK! THERE'S A LADYBUG!" Kim yelled.  
"WHAT ARE YOU TELLING ME FOR - GO GET IT!" Alix yelled back.

The little red and black beetle that buzzed through the air minding it’s own business. They were so focused on it they barely registered Rose, Juleka and Nathaneal infront of them. Kim them bowlled right through the three of them, knocking them apart, and Alix darted through on his tail, knocking their things to the ground.  
A very confused ladybug went fleeing from the strange creatures swiping at it, only to find itself trapped by a clear lid covered with holes.

"GOT IT!" They cried victoriously.

The two of them high-fived triumphantly before dashing back over to the girls and Nathanael, and helping them to picked up the paintbrushes that they had dropped due to the crashing.

"Sorry about that! We got her though!" Kim declared, beaming.

"We've been over this Kim, not all ladybugs are girls!" Alix groaned.

Kim pouted at her stubbornly. "You don’t know that!"

Max pushed his glasses up to the bridge of his nose and bounced onto his heels for a moment as he began, "Statistically at least fifty percent of ladybugs must be male in order to repopulate, unless they are able to reproduce asexually which - according to the Lady blog so this may not be entirely accurate but I am yet to properly research and fact check this, so I apologise in advance if it is not factual - they cannot. Therefore it is impossible for every ladybug caught to be, as you say, a girl."

"But every ladybug I catch is a lady anyway!" Kim sneered.

"Classical, but inaccurate," Max pointed out.

"Shut up Max!" Kim sneered, but the little smirk let Max know he was only teasing.

Rose cleared her throat slightly, trying hard to keep the easel carefully balanced in her arms as she said, "If they're attracted to flowers-"

The mention of flowers sparked something in Max and he took the situation from her. "Like the vast majority of insects, ladybugs feed off of sweet things and sugars, often found in pollen, which is in turn produced by flowers, so it is accurate to say-"

Alix cleared her throat to interrupt and said, quietly, "Max buddy, we talked about interrupting. Let Rose finish her point before telling her she’s inaccurate."

Max's shoulders sagged. He shifted on his heels sheepishly. "My apologises Rose, I was just trying to explain that your idea of Ladybugs being attracted to flowers is factual, so your following suggestion will likely be accurate."

"Um, thanks. I was just going to say that there seems to be a wildflower meadow down there. Maybe you'll find more if you head that way," Rose said, pointing the eastle down the hill.

Alix lit up. "Hell yeah! We're gonna beat Marinette like a boss!" 

Kim cheered in response and raised his arm. He was so much taller than Alix that Alix had to jump to highfive him, but both of them beamed after the clap.

"Thanks Rose!" Kim called as they set of racing towards the meadow.

"You’re welcome!" Rose called after him.

As they ran towards the patch of softer looking grass close to them, Alix realised that they were on a sloap. The grass was dotted with brightly coloured wild flowers, a soft landing mat for them to land on.

"I bet i can make it to the bottom of this hill faster than you!" Alix called.

Kim grinned. "Youre on!"

Alix grinned back. She dropped to her knees and flattened herself out with her arms against her face to protect herself, and then began to roll. Kim gasped.

"Cheat!" He laughed, before copying her.

Max rolled his eyes and pushed his glasses further up his nose as he watched his friends dizzy themselves rolling down the hill. Alix ended up laying flat on her back at the bottom of the hill with her head spinning. 

"Did i win?!" She called.

Kim came to a stop not so far away, on his stomach. He raised his head and looked around. His head felt heavier now, and he could see her lower down than him.

"Yeah," he called, and let his head fall back onto his arms, "you win."

Max walked down the sloap after them and stopped, standing over Alix. He cleared his throat. Alix opened her eyes.

"Can I help you?" She asked sarcastically.

"Are you going to search for more ladybugs, or roll down the hill again?" He asked.

"My votes on roll down the hill again!" Kim called.

"I'll win again!" Alix warned.

"You're on!" Kim called back.

Both of them leapt to their feet again, laughing brightly as they dashed back up the sloap. Max, still acting as a referee, told them when to go, and decided who would win. Every now and then he'd find a ladybug and try - with minimum effort - to catch them while the others played.  
All too soon the laughter had to end. It was Nathaneal that called down to them in the end, to let them know it was time to head back.  
Alix stood up, dusting the grass off of herself,

"Crap, we didnt catch any ladybugs! Now Marinette will win!"

"You didnt do too bad," Max said, pointedly. 

They frowned at him in confusion, so Max handed them the tube full of bugs so they could understand. They grinned up at him.

"Did you catch all these?" Alix asked. 

"Of course not. I'm a referee. I have no bias!" Max insisted firmly, although that little smirk he allowed as he pushed his glasses back up said everything he wouldn't. 

"Hey Max?" Kim asked.

"Yeah?" Max asked uncertainly.

"Youre the greatest."

Kim wrapped his arms around Max and lifted him off of his feet in a huge bear hug that made Max grunt. Kim threatened to carry Max back up to the van, so Alix challenged him to a race to save him.  
They passed Marinette and Adrien on their way back to the van. They were sitting in the grass. There were ladybugs literally crawling in Marinette's hair, trying to get into the daisies that wrapped around her head like a halo. To try and build up their amount of ladybugs before they reached the van, Alix and Kim did a little last minute searching. That made them get back to the van a little later than expected. 

"We got twenty five, how many dyou get?" Alix grinned. 

"Um, like fifteen?" Adrien said uncertainly. He looked over at Marinette. "Fifteen?"

Marinette shrugged. "Sure."

"Then Alix and Kim win," Max declared.

Alix and Kim whooped victoriously and high fived, bragging a little outside before they had to free the ladybugs. The sudden flurry of free ladybugs caused the ones in Marinette and Adrien's hair flee after them, to form a kind of swam. Marinette smirked affectionately and laid a hand on her bag softly. There was a little chirp from inside that made Marinette smile wider.

"Shotgun window!" Kim cried.

"I'll sit next to you Kim, Max can have the window seat," Alix offered.

"I dont want the window," Max said.

"Then sit in the asile. Nat will take the window," Alix shrugged.

Before he could object there was a sudden screeching from outside. 

"GET AWAY FROM ME WITH THAT! DONT YOU KNOW THEY ATTRACT DANGEROUS INSECTS?!"

Chloé practically shoved Adrien away from her when he advanced to ask why she didnt want a hug this time when she was always bothering him about hugs. Chloé huffed in frustration and shoved past them to climb in the van.  
Inside, it was clear she'd had a tough day. Her hair was a mess, tangled with twigs, her jeans were torn, and her arms were covered in tiny scrapes. Sabrina didnt look much better. Kim tried to ask if she was ok and Chloé just huffed at him and shoved past him to collapse sulkily into her seat. Alix pulled a face at Kim to make him smile after this interaction. It worked.  
It always worked.  
The ride home was a lot less energetic than the way up. One by one each of the students began to either drift off to sleep or put their headphones in to chill out. It was a calm and pleasant atmosphere, made all that much sweeter by the sun sinking low and casting pink streaks across the sky. Very soon the only sound was the rumble of the engine as they travelled down the ribbon of empty road, back up through the hills.  
Kim ended up leaning against the window dozing quietly as Alix pulled her headphones over her pink hair and used some of Rose's baby wipes to scrub the grass stains off her skin. Behind them Max rested his head against the back of the seat while Nathaneal made as many edits to the sketches he had made today before motion sickness got to him and he had to stare out of the window to make it go away.  
In the calm and the peace of the trip, nobody noticed one last ladybug in the van. She crept out of the bag on the floor, and nudged a tiny black kitten curled up in the bag beside her. He opened one pure green eye lazily, and purred a little when he saw her.

"You'll get us caught sugar cube," he whispered.

Tikki shook her head, "theyre both asleep. Its been too long since we last caught up."

"A thousand years give or take. Not that I've been counting," he lied.

She smiled. "Then budge up. We've got until Paris to catch up."

Plagg purred softly. Hawkmoth may not have been able to catch ladybugs, but Plagg certainly could. If only Chat Noir could be so lucky.


End file.
